Auxiliary Bishop Appointed for the Archdiocese of Ottawa-Cornwall

Thursday, March 17, 2022

Today, His Holiness Pope Francis appointed Father Yvan Mathieu, S.M., currently Provincial Superior of the Pères Maristes du Canada (Marist Fathers of Canada), Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of Ottawa-Cornwall and Titular Bishop of Vazari.

Bishop-elected Yvan Mathieu was born in Québec City in 1961. He graduated from the Marist Fathers’ High School in Québec City in 1976. In 1979, he entered the novitiate of the Marist Fathers in Washington DC and made his first vows in 1980. He was ordained to the priesthood on August 15, 1987.

He studied Theology at Saint Paul University from 1980 to 1984. He worked at the Séminaire des Pères Maristes in Québec City from 1984 to 1989. From 1989 to 1993, he studied at the Pontifical Biblical Institute in Rome where he graduated with an SSL. After two years of ministry in Québec City (1993-1995), he returned to Saint Paul University to work on his doctorate which he completed in 2000. His dissertation was entitled The Portrait of Peter in Luke – Acts and was published (in French) in 2004.

Bishop-elect Mathieu, who had been teaching since 2000, was a professor of Old Testament and Biblical Languages in the Faculty of Theology at Saint Paul University at the time of his appointment. In July 2014, he was named Dean of the Faculty of Theology, a position he held until December 2018. He was elected Provincial Superior of the Canadian Marist Fathers and has served in that capacity since January 1, 2019. Although he stepped down as Dean to serve his community as the Provincial Superior, he continued to teach as an associate professor in the Faculty of Theology at Saint Paul University.

A date has not yet been determined for Bishop-elect Mathieu’s ordination. It is expected that he will be officially introduced to the archdiocese at the Chrism Mass, which is scheduled for 10:30 am on April 12, 2022 at Notre-Dame Cathedral.

The Archdiocese of Ottawa-Cornwall currently has 131 parishes and missions, served by 136 diocesan priests, 105 priests who are members of religious communities, and 113 permanent deacons.